


The one where Kirby is Sylvan

by Chavelapr13



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Death, Found Family, Other, Sort of? - Freeform, he wasn't looking for it but he found it anyway, i should've started with that one lmao, rating for language expected from taz, spoilers but it's ned, sylvan!kirby, this is my first fic so uhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chavelapr13/pseuds/Chavelapr13
Summary: Just an exploration into my headcanon that Kirby was actually Sylvan the whole time and was just hiding it.
Kudos: 19





	The one where Kirby is Sylvan

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys! This is just a little drabble of mine. It's my first ever fic so don't be too harsh on me hah. I wanna write more about my Sylvan!Kirby in the future but for now I just wanted to explore how it would work in the context of amnesty. So yeah! I hope you like it. Stay safe!!

Kirby always wanted more from his life. For the longest time, he had been working as a journalist in Sylvain and, to be honest, it was boring as fuck. Nothing ever happened in this town especially, after the disappearance of the Lady Sylvain. There was always another exile or another law put in place but never anything fun to write about. Kirby had made his choice: he had to run. He would miss his family and his friends but he was so unhappy… he needed more. So, he concocted his plan. He wrote his article for today, speaking on the unfairness of the kingdom for not telling them what was really going on in Sylvain. The people already knew it was dying. If the people didn’t really know, they had an idea and yet they were never explicitly told. The people were left in the dark on their dying planet with no word from the higher ups. Never told what to do or how to protect themselves or at least given a warning. He wrote the entire article, found a way to sneak it into that day’s newspaper and went to the crystal.

A smirk fell onto his face. He was scared but it was about time that he rebelled against these assholes. He skipped the line, ignoring those who yelled at him and touched the crystal. Immediately, guards dragged him away. He would never know if the people read the newspaper or were even allowed to read it. It didn’t matter. He did as much as he could before he was thrown out of the gate and landed on the floor in the middle of a forest.

“Thacker, look.” Kirby heard a quiet voice speak and he looked around. He rubbed at his eyes but was more gentle with the blue eye that sat on his forehead. He looked around and could finally read who was here. Her name was Mama from what he could tell in her memories. It wasn’t her real name but he didn’t wanna pry and see what it actually was, that would be rude. He couldn’t see her physically but he could see her thoughts. She did not seem scared of him, which was a shock considering he literally had claws, a third eye and was significantly taller than her. Instead, she seemed almost worried as she walked over slowly. There was someone else in those woods, taking care of a crying younger boy. Must’ve been the person who was exiled earlier that day. “What’s your name?” she asked as she got closer.

“Uh… names worked weird in my family. Hard for humans to understand. Feel free to call me Kirby.” Kirby spoke barely above a whisper. He wasn’t necessarily scared but he found himself tensing up a little as she kneeled down and held out a little bag to him. His fears started melting away. All he could see was compassion. A type of almost familiar compassion he had never felt before.

“ Okay, Kirby. These here are uh- disguises. Help you look more human. Pick whichever one you feel most drawn to.” Kirby seemed confused but looked in the bag and immediately found what he wanted. It was a small triangle shaped earring. The borders of the triangle were gold while the actual triangle was a teal. He hesitantly looked up at Mama who gave him a nod as he gently put the earring in his ear. He saw his nails retract and he felt himself getting a little bit shorter. Suddenly as well, his view on Mama’s memories and feelings were a lot blurrier. “I never introduced myself but my name i-”

“Mama.” Kirby finished her sentence. “Don’t worry, I know a lot about you actually.” He responded with a sheepish smile. “The third eye helps me see other’s memories. I don’t try to use it too much though so don’t worry.” Mama chuckled at this.

“I wasn’t worried. How about you come with us? At least for the night. I assume you know where we’re goin’” Kirby laughed at this and stood himself up on shaky legs. He was still pretty tall but nowhere near before. This was going to take some getting used to but something about this woman made him feel safe. He nodded.

“The Amnesty Lodge.” Mama smiled at the response and started leading him to the lodge. She spoke about the world they were in. About the human world and the customs and what they were supposed to do. He found out along the way that the boy Thacker was comforting was called Jake. He was young and apparently did not know what crime he had committed. Kirby was too tired to pry and Jake seemed like a cool guy. He would much rather get to know him rather than just read his memories. Plus, if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure how much information he could get without his eye.

Quickly after arriving at the lodge, Kirby realized this was not for him. The warm atmosphere… the way it felt like home. That is not what he wanted at all. He did not want to feel like he was back in Sylvain with a community. He wanted to adventure and do something fun. As much as he loved the warm breakfast Barclay served him every morning or the stories Jake had about how he was learning to snowboard, he knew that this was defeating the purpose. 

Kirby stayed for a month or so, he didn’t want to leave without a plan. No one would hire him as a journalist considering the more he looked, the more he realized he needed human qualifications that he did not have and could not afford so, he spent the time he had by setting up a blog. He posted art and some people took out commissions with him. It brought him some revenue but that was not what made him the most money. He had begun to write about the local Sylvan news in Kepler. He could read people’s minds so he knew all the news that happened around here just by looking at people. It brought increasing traffic and people donated to see more news and better quality. Kirby never sold it as real but he never stated it was fake either. He had called it ‘The Lamplighter’. People from all across the country read it but he took pride in the printed versions he would spread around the amnesty lodge. When he finally had the money he needed, he said goodbye to his friends and got an apartment on the outskirts of Kepler. He stopped by the lodge occasionally to get in the hot springs and talk to the sylvans. Reading minds was great but getting a weekly edition of news with actual testimonials was a lot more fun. People came to him occasionally to give him stories about cryptids and Kirby listened intently to each one and warned his friends if anyone was close to finding out. He would change the stories in the paper but would generally publish them anyway. The world had to know even if they didn’t think it was real.

Kirby did not live a luxurious life, but he was happy. Some people would commission him for paintings and drawings but ‘The Lamplighter’ still was his biggest form of revenue. People loved to hear about this quaint and mysterious town and had become attached to some of the people. The readers believed they were just characters but Kirby knew better.. Recently though, people started to really like Ned Chicane. Kirby had met the man after he had made a commission for him and his museum. He had never even heard of the Cryptonomica but now that he had been there, he was in love. He had written about the Cryptonomica and it’s new assistant as soon as he got home that night. When Ned Chicane became the owner, he wrote about that as well and fans mourned that previous owner they barely knew. Some people actually started visiting, talking about how ‘The Lamplighter’ brought them here and Kirby wrote about their partnership. He wrote diligently about the daily news and left an article everyday where he spoke about the exhibits at the cryptonomica. It gave people the liberty to not read it but if they did read it then maybe they would be drawn to his new place of work.

Kirby didn’t plan to tell anyone he was Sylvan. That fact was too painful to him. He didn’t want to think about it. If they were not there in the month that he stayed or hadn’t seen him at the hot springs, they would not know. They didn’t need to know. He was happy just living in Kepler until he could find a way to travel. Ned found out anyway though. A late night at the Cryptonomica was what led to Ned’s discovery. Kirby was tired and, even though you can never feel the disguise, it now felt heavy. It felt like he was wearing something over himself and he was so tired and hot, he convinced himself that a couple minutes without the earring couldn’t hurt. But the world had other plans as he rubbed his third eye open and looked to see Ned in the door staring at him with wide eyes. Kirby read him. He wasn’t scared. Ned would never hurt him and he had known about Sylvans for a very long time now. The shock wasn’t that there was a Sylvan in his store, it was the fact that Kirby was Sylvan.

“Kirby… Why did you not tell me!” Ned kept his usual jovial tone but Kirby could hear hesitation in his voice as he sighed. He placed the earring in a little pouch he had attached to a necklace so as to not lose it.

“Want me to be honest, Ned? I was uh- kinda scared you’d kick me out. It’s dumb and irrational, I know but… I always wanted adventure and travel and shit. I planned and planned and then you gave me work and that all went out the window. This place makes me want to stay in Kepler and I didn’t want anything to ruin that chance.” Kirby said and rubbed the back of his neck. Ned didn’t have to say anything, he knew that Ned’s emotions had dropped from shock to… was it worry? It was compassion but not one that Kirby had really felt from anyone except maybe Mama. It made his heart warm.

“Oh, friend Kirby! I would never kick you out. Listen, I’ve been through a lot of shit and I know what it’s like to want to run away. I think both of us have found a good companionship here and I… think the Cryptonomica has made me want to stay in Kepler, too.” Ned said with a gentle smile and crossed his arms with a chuckle. “Now, can I ask a question?”

“What is it, Ned?”

“Can you see through that eye?” Kirby laughed and shook his head.

“Not quite. Let me explain.” and he did. He explained it all and poured his heart out as he told his story,

Ned’s death broke him. He had told his secret to one person and now that person was dead… Kirby would never tell anyone he was Sylvan ever again. Even in their time of need, it’s not like reading the mind of thoughtless monsters was going to help their battle. Mind reading hadn’t helped before considering he had let the shapeshifter film that stupid video and hadn’t even stopped him. You could blame it on how blurry the disguise made his eye but he should have still known. He should have still been able to read him… if mind reading did not help back then, it would not help here or anywhere. No one had or needed to know… Hollis found out anyway.

It was in passing really. Hollis and Jake spent a lot of time around the Cryptonomica recently. Kirby wondered why a lot. He later found out that Aubrey and Duck told them to check on him. They both seemed worried for Kirby after Ned’s death and Kirby would not admit it but, they were right in being worried. Either way, they had decided to try and distract Kirby from his work. 

“You literally hired a bunch of employees, the place will be fine without you. You have managers and shit.” Hollis said as they peaked over Kirby’s shoulder to look at his writing.

“It’s not the museum I’m worried about. I wanna finish tomorrow’s paper early so I can actually get a good night’s sleep.” Kirby muttered and took a sip of his Java Monster, his latest drink of choice since he became a small business owner.

“You really need to get more people to write that with you. You had a lot more time before but now you got a lot of stuff to do. You probably wouldn’t even have to get new people, you could just get people who actually work here.” Jake chimed in and Kirby shook his head.

“You two don’t need to worry about me, ya know? I had to write way more than this back in Sylvain when I was younger. Plus I had to take care of my mom and siblings so I’m totally set. I’ll be done in a se-”

“Wait wait, repeat that. Back where?” Hollis cut Kirby off and he just looked over with a confused look before he realized. Oh shit

“Uh… Back in Sylvain…” Kirby whispered and kind of shrunk into his seat. He couldn’t see hostility from Hollis. They didn’t seem angry but without his eye it was hard to tell. It was too blurred.

“You’re Sylvan?” Hollis asked a little too loudly. Jake just laughed a little.

“I’m shocked you didn’t know that, Hollis.”

“In all fairness, I’ve never told anyone. I only told Ned and even then, I didn’t mean to.” Kirby sighed and took off his earring. Hollis looked at him with wide eyes as Kirby looked back with his three eyes. There was surprisingly no shock coming from Hollis. He was actually amazed, almost impressed. “I can’t believe this, how did you keep it hidden from me for so long?” Kirby mimicked Hollis’ voice and now he could see shock on Hollis. He laughed. “I can read minds that’s like my whole schtick. It’s why I’ve been able to get all the news so accurately. I’d much rather be one of those dudes who can see the future but I’m happy with what I got.” Kirby stretched and turned off his computer. He stood up, starting to clean off his desk in his messy office. “Anyway, since you guys wanna go so bad, how about we get some dinner or something.” Hollis stood in astounded silence for a second before speaking.

“Y-Yeah, sure.” They said and Jake just laughed at them and patted them on the back as Kirby slung a messenger bag over his shoulder. He put his earring back on and gave a relieved sigh as his clothes fit loosely over his body once more and he headed out with his two friends in tow.


End file.
